


Time's Gentle Passage

by digimaniac33



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Gen, Retcon Timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-25
Updated: 2016-07-25
Packaged: 2018-07-26 13:37:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7575985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/digimaniac33/pseuds/digimaniac33
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A suspended moment in time before the final push.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Time's Gentle Passage

**Author's Note:**

  * For [earlymorningechoes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/earlymorningechoes/gifts).
  * Inspired by [like snowflakes softly falling](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3994477) by [earlymorningechoes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/earlymorningechoes/pseuds/earlymorningechoes). 



Rose stepped carefully through the corridors of the meteor, mindful of any noises she made. There was no danger here, but she appreciated whatever solitary moments came to her, and was loath to come across any of the others this night. Day. Whatever. Time had lost all meaning about three weeks into their journey, despite Dave's meticulous tracking, so if she chose to believe it was night, then night it was.

She made her way to one of her favorite haunts, a giant window that granted the best (or at this point in their journey, the only) view of the Green Sun. Unfortunately it was also Terezi's favorite perch, and Rose was not looking for company tonight. She rounded a corner and thanked her good fortune, for the window was as empty as the corridors she'd passed through to get there. Pulling extra cushions from her sylladex, she turned the window's lip into a serviceable lounge chair, making herself into the very picture of a Victorian maiden gazing out the window in wonder. If you ignored the bright orange pajamas and alien architecture, of course.

The Green Sun was just the barest, brightest pinprick at the edge of the window now. Months, or years, or centuries ago, that sun had filled her entire world, and now it stood barely within her vision, like Mars on a moonless night. She'd often taken advantage of her home's isolated environment to look up at the stars, mapping their familiar courses throughout the seasons. For a moment, she could almost mistake the dreambubbles for those stars, and pretend she was sitting in her bay window in New York. Too much had changed for her to hold onto that view for long, though, and soon enough she was in her proper time again.

"Hello there." A voice from behind broke her reverie. Rose turned and saw Terezi standing at the mouth of the corridor. "Didn't expect to find you here."

Rose suppressed a sigh of exasperation. Her fortune apparently wasn't that good after all. "Terezi," she said curtly. "Did you mistake me for Vriska?"

Terezi shrugged slightly. "You know she doesn't wear her god tier outfit anymore, Rose."

Silence fell between them. Rose turned back to the window, trying to lose herself to its darkness again. Terezi's presence tied her to this place even more tightly than her experiences had, though, and despite all her mental exhortations the other girl remained there. Being a god was truly useless if you couldn't even use your powers to gain a moment of solitude.

Just as Rose was debating the merits of finding another window to lurk in, Terezi spoke again. "So. The journey's almost over, huh."

"Indeed," Rose said without turning. "We'll be arriving at the new session quite soon now."

Behind her, she heard Terezi step closer. "Almost no time at all, then."

At that, Rose let out a bark of laughter. "Or all the time in the universe. There doesn't seem to be much of a difference, after all." She stared straight at the Green Sun winking in the distance. "For all of Dave's calculations, I feel we must be at least seventeen by now."

"Yeah, seventeen sounds about right." Terezi wriggled into the other corner of the window frame, her legs drawn tight against her body. She used no cushions to soften the frame's harsh edges. "I can't imagine we've experienced less than seventeen sweeps of shit at this point."

Rose chuckled at that despite herself. "I was thinking in years, not sweeps."

"You should really embrace our calendar, it's so much more fun than your silly little months and years."

"Tracking time by two moons does sound more exciting than simply following a single sun's path." Rose's eyes focused on the Green Sun again. The symbolism in that statement was ironic enough to give Dave conniptions. "Probably more rewarding, as well."

Terezi faced the window herself, though Rose couldn't tell if there was anything bright enough for her to smell at this point. No amount of time in Terezi's presence could reveal the secrets behind her bizarre abilities. Idly, Terezi said, "We trolls outnumber you humans, too, so it would make more sense to follow our traditions, you know."

Rose nodded. "Yes, I see your point. Clearly we've been acting like cl- like fools all this time." She stopped herself short of that word. There had been some weird tension about their most enigmatic fellow passenger, and even now she couldn't bring herself to investigate what that was about. If the choice was now or never, never seemed like a wonderful companion.

She hauled her mind back onto the conversation at hand as something occurred to her. "Your Time player doesn't stick around, though, so we do have something of an advantage there."

Terezi stayed quiet for a long moment. At last, she said, "Yeah, you've got me there. Guess we're stuck with shitty human time after all." She pulled her legs tighter against her chest, unconsciously it seemed.

Silence stretched between them again until Rose couldn't stand it a moment longer. Somehow, despite her earlier inclinations, she was enjoying this time with Terezi, and she couldn't stand letting it end like this. "You know what? Time means dick-all out here, and I'm supposed to be some kind of a god, so fuck it. I'm seventeen years old, and you're seventeen sweeps or whatever age you want to be, and if the universe has a problem with that, I invite the entire cosmos and whatever associated powers it entertains to suck it." As an afterthought, she added, "The Time players can fuck right off, as well. Clearly they don't understand the power I command."

A low chuckle rippled out of Terezi. "Well you haven't lost your edge at all. Glad we'll be on the same side at the end of this." She stood and stretched her arms, reaching high above her horns. "I'd better get some good rest, then, or I won't have a chance at keeping up with you when we finally get there." With no more than that, she wandered back into the corridors, her form quickly swallowed by the darkness.

Rose kept watching the hall long after Terezi disappeared from her sight. Somehow, it seemed to her that Terezi had been looking for something. She couldn't imagine what it was, though, and Terezi's behavior had given no clear indication if she'd found it or not. All Rose could do was hope that she had.

She turned again to the window, seeking out the Green Sun one last time. Soon they would hopefully be beyond its reach, after all, and such titanic forces should never be left behind lightly. When she felt enough time had passed, she collected her cushions again and turned away from the window, ready to start the final leg of their adventure.


End file.
